From: joedees@bellsouth.net
Date: Fri 22 Nov 2002 - 04:19:13 GMT
> >
> >Then are you saying that memes are not transmitted through language?
> >Or if they are transmitted from one generation to another, how? Where
> >do the memes of religion come from if not through language? Are they
> >recreated by each of us as we read the texts of the past? Is what we
> >get from the texts only from our own minds and not from the people
> >who wrote the texts?
> >
> >I'd say it's a bit of both rather than only one or the other. But
> >that's my point of view.
> >
> >Grant
>
> "One must learn from him who knows." Language is one thing; teaching
> someone how to ride a bicycle is another thing. Riding a bicycle is a
> meme; but it is not describable in language in a way that can fully
> transmit its meaning.
>
Actually, I did this onlist - it's in the archives somewhere.
>
> Memes of religion come from master to student. Texts are dead,
> especially in the hands of those who lack understanding. A teacher
> with understanding can use a text; a teacher without understanding can
> only abuse a text. Of course it is not a binary relation; there are
> levels of understanding.
>
And who decides who does and does not understand a given text? And
whether that person understands enough to make such a
determination? In the absence of empirical evidence, such an
imputation remains entirely subjective; one person's fool is another's
guru, and verse-vice-a.
>
> I could write a whole book on Adobe Photoshop, but the only way to
> teach what I know is by showing someone. Oral transmission is not just
> about language.
>
It's about showing rather than telling, and that involves demonstration
and imitation. I wrote a paper on this.
>
> Memes are not things one can be conscious of, when they are operating
> within oneself; they "are" oneself, at a moment, unless they are
> non-identified with.
>
Actually, one can be aware of memes that one does not even share. I
certainly do not believe that if I murder an infidel for the greater glory of
Allah, that I will enjoy an eternity in Paradise blessed by the erotic
ministrations of 72 renewable virgins, but I am well aware of the
existence of the meme, and the fact that others will kill and die because
of their belief in it.
>
> - JS Gilbert
>
> ===============================================================
> This was distributed via the memetics list associated with the
> Journal of Memetics - Evolutionary Models of Information Transmission
> For information about the journal and the list (e.g. unsubscribing)
> see: http://www.cpm.mmu.ac.uk/jom-emit
>
===============================================================
This was distributed via the memetics list associated with the
Journal of Memetics - Evolutionary Models of Information Transmission
For information about the journal and the list (e.g. unsubscribing)
see: http://www.cpm.mmu.ac.uk/jom-emit
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